I will make no excuses.. I can't paint. I'm extremely grateful to Walter Smith, @southernnscale, one of my customers who sent me this photo:
Flatbed Trucks: http://shpws.me/lmjY
ForkLifts: http://shpws.me/ngPG

Hmm. Need to find a way to power them, and one could do away with the whole railroad setup and just play warehouse.
(Maybe resistance-heated nitinol wire would work for operating the fork, and magnets on a track under the layout for moving the whole thing ?)